


Of Men and Monsters

by bonesofether



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Artistic Liberties, Backstory, Character Development, F/M, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), POV Canon Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2020-05-18 16:56:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19338694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonesofether/pseuds/bonesofether
Summary: When Sombra accidentally uncovers a piece of the past, the family that Gabriel Reyes thought he had lost over twenty years ago is returned to him. Except by now Reyes has donned the cloak and mantle of Reaper, and his family has been hunted by both Overwatch and mercenaries alike. Is there any place for Reyes's past within the ranks of Talon, or has that once seemingly idyllic life completely forsaken him?





	1. Incarcerated Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When some bored data scouring lands Sombra an interesting piece of Reaper's past, she's more than eager to see just how valuable the information is.

If there was a punishment worse than this kind of monotony, Sombra didn’t want to know.

Stretching languidly in her chair with a long yawn, the hacker gave the trio of computer screens in front of her a tired look. Doomfist had tasked her with finding the location of a potential hire for Talon, and it had taken her a whole ten minutes to do so. In fact, the only reason that Sombra had even offered to find the person in the first place was because she was trying to get back in the good graces of the Talon leader.

True, she probably shouldn’t have let her own interests interrupt the last mission. Especially since her abrupt departure mid-mission had led to the whole thing being a total failure. But this sort of punishment was borderline cruel and unusual. And the only reason that Sombra hadn’t reported back to Doomfist with her findings was because she didn’t want to risk getting stuck with another mind-numbingly easy task.

So now the violet haired hacker was attempting to entertain herself by flicking the cover pages of various criminal profiles to and fro. She had at least forty-five minutes more to kill, though Sombra wasn’t sure that she’d make it that long. Not only was this incredibly boring, but being given such an easy task was practically insulting, to boot.

Sombra was so far into her little game of ‘Profile Ping Pong’ that she almost missed the name as it whizzed by.

Almost.

_ Reyes _ .

The familiarity of the name snagged Sombra’s attention, and she caught the profile under her glowing fingernail. Sitting up a little straighter in her seat, the young woman stared at the profile a bit more closely. Glowering back at her was the mugshot of a ebony haired, tan skinned, dark-eyed woman. But it was the name underneath the mugshot that piqued Sombra’s interest.

_ Cassandra Rose Waters-Reyes _ .

Humming quietly in thought, Sombra opened up the profile. She couldn’t recall Reaper ever mentioning a ‘Cassandra’, though that wasn’t surprising. He had been particularly closed off about his personal life. Probably for good reason, too.

As her eyes flicked over the bevy of information now spread out before her, Sombra couldn’t help but notice that quite a bit of it had been redacted. No matter, she could dig that up later. For now, she was curious to see if this Cassandra person was anyone of note.

It didn’t take Sombra long to find out. The answers were right there on the first page of Cassandra’s profile. Most of the information was useless biological stats, but then…

_ Spouse: Gabriel Reyes _

_ Children: Elias Reyes (Alive), Elisa Reyes (Alive). _

_ Status: Alive. Incarcerated. _

“Oh, Gabe…,” Sombra crooned. “Gabe, Gabe, Gabe. You should know better than to try and keep secrets from me.”

Boredom now thoroughly alleviated, Sombra fidgeted excitedly in her seat as a smug grin spread across her lips. She drummed her nails against the tabletop quickly before setting to work. Reaper had only mentioned having a family twice, but never once had he mentioned that they were still alive. 

But did Reaper himself even know that?   
  


After about thirty minutes of thoroughly searching and selective downloading, Sombra had compiled all the information that she thought would be of worth. She now had at her disposal a mini-encyclopedia worth of information on Cassandra Waters-Reyes. Everything from the typical biological stats to information about family, relatives. Even some security cam footage and surveillance photos.

A glance at the computer’s clock told Sombra that Doomfist was going to be wanting an update soon, so she hurriedly began erasing all traces of her searches and endeavors. She had completed the task that the Talon leader had given her, so it wasn’t like she had anything to worry about. More importantly, Sombran needed to find out if the information she had gathered on Cassandra was worth anything.

And she had exactly thirty more minutes to do so.

Pushing herself away from the desk dramatically, Sombra spun around in her chair before prancing to the doorway. She was quite proud of herself. Not only had she done what was asked of her in practically no time, but she had also, hopefully, managed to gain some incredibly useful information that she could use as she wished.

Pausing at the doorway, Sombra peeked out. When she saw nobody, she darted into the hallway, going invisible as she did so. She didn’t have much time left and didn’t want to risk getting caught up in unnecessary conversation.

No, the only conversation Sombra was intent on having was a little chat with Reaper.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Talon base, Reaper was watching over the shoulder of a very nervous employee. He was vaguely aware that the young man would occasionally cast a wary glance up at him, but Reaper couldn’t have cared less. By this point he was used to getting stared at.

Tapping his foot slowly to signal his growing impatience, Reaper glared down at the young man.

“Well? Where  _ is _ she?”

“I-I’m sorry, sir,” the dark-haired man stammered, gaze fixed on the computer screen as they didn’t dare to look up at Reaper. “Sombra’s not coming up on any of the comms or cameras. I’ve paged her several times, but...she won’t answer. M-maybe she st-stepped out?”

“Hmph.”

Grasping the back of the chair with his gloved hand, digging the metal, claw-like tips into the faux leather, Reaper leaned forward and looked a little closer at the screen. Watching the seat’s occupant cringe away from the corner of his vision, Reaper allowed himself a brief, amused sneer. The reaction was hidden by his mask, anyways.

Why Doomfist himself couldn’t summon Sombra himself was beyond Reaper. But when she had failed to report in, the Talon leader had tasked Reaper with finding the hacker. Probably as punishment for their last mission having been a colossal failure thanks to the actions, or rather, inactions of said hacker.

“D-did you want me to try calling her again?” the young man asked, trying to lean as far away from Reaper as he could manage without being obvious.

“Don’t bother,” Reaper grumbled, standing up straight. He stepped away before pivoting and stalking out of the room. “I’ll find her myself.”

Though the black-robed man missed it, the Talon employee breathed a long sigh of relief before practically melting into their seat.

 

As he strode down the brightly lit hallway, Reaper tried to guess what would cause Sombra to suddenly go AWOL. Doomfist had been very clear about his orders. He had also been  _ very _ clear about what would happen to Sombra if she didn’t follow his orders. And despite her penchant for mischief and being an overall annoyance, Reaper highly doubted that Sombra wanted to risk incurring Doomfist’s ire any more than she already had.

While it wasn’t unheard of, it was also highly unlikely that she had simply left the Talon base for her own reasons. Again, it was too risky.

Which left only one other reason that Reaper could think of. And it was, in his opinion, the worst possible reason. That Sombra had concocted some new, self-serving plan. While that by itself wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, what was a bad thing was that her self-serving plans tended to slow down those of Talon. ...and they tended to involve Reaper in some way, too.

Sombra was incredibly lucky that she was too valuable and skilled to be replaced. Otherwise-

“Gabe! There you are!”

The too-chipper greeting made Reaper stop dead in his tracks. He  _ hated _ it when Sombra used that tone of voice with him. Rolling his eyes and growling out a long, exasperated sigh, he pivoted to face her...only to be met with empty space. So, looking at the spot that Sombra should have been, Reaper crossed his arms loosely and gave said spot a disapproving glare.

“Where have you been? You were supposed to report in twenty minutes ago.”

“I’ve been looking for you! Wanted to talk to you for a bit.” There was a pause, and then Sombra added in a sly tone. “Alone.”

“Joy of eternal joys,” Reaper grumbled, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Been doing a bit of research,” Sombra continued, seemingly undeterred by her compatriot’s obvious irritation. “Research that I think even  _ you’d _ be interested in, Gaaabe.”

“I highly doubt that,” Reaper snapped back, grimacing at the way Sombra drawled out his name. He waved a hand quickly, half-hoping he’d manage to brush against Sombra and bring her out of her invisibility. “Now then, you have five seconds to make yourself visible before I leave and report to Doomfist that you abandoned your duties without reason.”

“Sheesh… You’re a real killjoy, you know?”

After a moment, Sombra materialized a few paces away from Reaper. Unnervingly enough, she was wearing a grin that he knew all too well. She  _ had _ found something that she planned to try and use in her favor. Or, at the very least, thought she had.

Having no interest in finding out what it was, Reaper nodded and motioned sharply to the elevator doors at the end of the hallway.

“Go. Now.”

Though she began to walk slowly backwards towards the elevator, Sombra looked up at Reaper with an expression of mock hurt.

“But Gabe, you don’t even want to hear about what I’ve found out?”

“No.”

“Hm… I think you do,” Sombra purred before turning to dramatically prance towards the elevator.

“I think I don’t,” Reaper muttered, trying his best to ignore Sombra’s antics.

“Then can I ask you some questions?”

“No.”

“Great! Okay, first one…”

Growling another sigh, Reaper ground his teeth for a moment before quickening his pace. He grabbed Sombra by the arm and began to borderline drag her to the elevator. Infuriatingly enough, it just seemed to humor her further. She giggled briefly and did a little stumble skip to keep up with Reaper’s aggressive pace.

“You were married, right?”

Oh, great. Of all the things that Reaper most definitely did  _ not _ want to talk about.

“Yes.”

As much as he hated to answer Sombra, Reaper knew that if he didn’t answer, she’d just pester him until he finally snapped. And lying to her was pointless. The hacker had an irritating way of finding out the truth regardless of how well it was hidden.

Besides, it wasn’t like she could really use the fact that he had been married against him. That was a known, though not oft spoken of, fact.

“That’s right,” Sombra hummed, feigning ignorance. She then looked up at Reaper with the most innocent smile she could muster. “What was her name again?”

For a long moment, Reaper was silent. Even if his wife had been dead for decades, that didn’t make saying her name any easier for him. He scowled down at Sombra, who simply blinked up at him expectantly.

“...none of your business.”

Mercifully, there was a soft ding to let them know that the elevator had arrived. The doors slid open with an almost inaudible swishing noise. Not wasting a moment, Reaper grabbed Sombra’s arm and more or less shoved her into the elevator. He added just enough force to let her know that she was treading on dangerously thin ice. And though Sombra whined about being handled too roughly, she didn’t resist and stumbled into the elevator.

Following close behind and hitting the control panel to choose which floor to go to, Reaper turned and glowered at the elevator doors as they closed. Sombra was humming merrily to herself, and he could feel her inquisitive gaze on him, but Reaper ignored it. He had nothing to say to her. She had touched a raw nerve and damn well knew it.

His relationship, and subsequent marriage to, Cassandra had hardly been conventional. She had been a fellow commanding officer, and, in some ways, his superior. Their relationship had started off as a simple fling. Something that would have been easy to write off and forget about if it was ever discovered.

But, of course, things were hardly ever that easy. The relationship had only grown stronger over time, until it eventually culminated into the beginning of a seemingly ideal life. Complete with a house and two kids.

Then, as with practically everything else even halfway good in his life, it had all been taken away in one violent, painful moment. Gabriel hadn’t even been able to search for his wife and kids until the only remnants of them were small, simple tombstones. All he had been left with were ashes and bittersweet memories.

The elevator dinged again and the doors slowly slid open. Sombr had been quiet so far, and Reaper could only hope she stayed that way. He stepped out of the elevator, expecting her to follow. As he did, he heard Sombra clear her throat loudly.

“Can’t believe that you haven’t tried to free Cassandra yet, Gabe.” There was a pause, then a scoff. “Or did you decide to just forget about her completely?”

Rage snagged in his chest and Reaper spun around, eyes briefly glowing in fury. He stormed back over to Sombra, stopping at the elevator threshold. He grabbed one edge of the doorway to stop the elevator doors from closing, glare never leaving the young woman.

“Excuse me…  _ What _ did you just say?” he hissed.

“I asked why haven’t you tried to break Cassandra out of prison, Gabe,” Sombra replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Because…” Reaper drew in a slow breath to try and compose himself. He was dangerously close to losing his temper with Sombra. “Because she is dead, Sombra. Dead. She died decades ago.”

And then a smile spread across Sombra’s features that was so wicked that it made a chill wash over Reaper.

“No she didn’t,” Sombra stated, obviously relishing the implications of the statement. “She’s very much alive, Gabriel. And I found her.”

Just like that Reaper’s last shred of patience with Sombra snapped. Fury broke through the icy cask that had been holding him still and the black-robed man lunged forward. He grabbed the front of Sombra’s shirt with one hand, while doubling the other into a fist that he slammed down on the elevator control panel. The impact made the thick glass erupt into a series of spiderweb cracks and made the elevator trill briefly before the doors slid shut.

Effortlessly hoisting Sombra up off the ground and slamming her against the back wall of the elevator, Reaper glowered murderously at her. His eyes were alight with seething rage, though he did find some sliver of satisfaction from the look of alarm that shot across Sombra’s face. Though it was far too late, she finally realized that she had pushed Reaper’s patience beyond its limits.

“What...did you say?” Reaper demanded, his mask a mere breath away from Sombra’s face.

For a couple seconds, the young woman appeared speechless. She blinked up at Reaper with wide eyes, realizing she’d never seen him react this severely to… Well, to  _ anything _ . Maybe she should have chosen her words a little more carefully.

Whatever enjoyment Reaper could have derived from Sombra’s alarmed reaction was overridden by the maelstrom of emotions and questions racing through him. He had been very careful to not dwell on the memories of Cassandra or their children, because, regardless of how selfish it was, it had just been easier, less painful, to try and forget about the idyllic life that had been stolen from him. But now…

Realizing that Sombra hadn’t said anything, Reaper snarled and slammed her against the wall again, lifting her up a little higher as he did so. Grunting and wincing from the impact, Sombra reflexively grabbed Reaper’s forearm. She could feel every muscle in it had gone taut, and knew that she had to speak quickly. It would be a very bad idea to test Reaper’s patience any further.

...at least now she knew her time hadn’t been wasted.

“ _ Now _ , Sombra!” Reaper demanded.

“Cassandra is alive. I found her.”

At this point, Sombra thought it best to keep her answers simple and to the point. That would, hopefully, help quell some of Reaper’s fury. Not to mention it kept Sombra from having to divulge any more information than she was ready to.

Confusion was the only thing tempering the rage hammering through his veins, and Reaper took a moment to try and straighten out his thoughts. As much as he would have loved to, he couldn’t throttle Sombra. He also couldn’t deny the sense of dread that what Sombra was saying might be true.

...had he, even if by accident, abandoned his wife and children?

The very thought sent a twist of pain through Reaper of the likes he’d never felt before.

“Sombra, if this is one of your goddamn pranks, I swear I’ll-”

Holding her hand up, palm facing upwards, Sombra suddenly snapped into existence a mugshot photo. Reaper’s gaze was inexorably drawn to the image, and, in a manner that would have been exhausting under almost any other circumstances, he felt his fury ratchet down. It was enough to make him drop Sombra unceremoniously back to the ground, though Reaper kept his deathgrip on the front of her shirt.

The mugshot was of Cassandra. It was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, her. Granted, she was much older than when he’d last seen her, but that just confirmed the fact that she was alive.

Cassandra,  _ his _ Cassandra, was alive.

For a long moment, Reaper couldn’t look away from the photo. He didn’t want to. Finally, though, he squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to force himself to get a grip on the storm of emotions still raging through him. Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, Reaper opened his eyes and looked at Sombra. She had, very wisely, remained silent this entire time. Though she was still giving him that damnably smug smirk.

Sighing heavily, Reaper released the front of Sombra’s shirt and slowly straightened his posture.

“What do you want, Sombra?”

In an instant, the hacker’s face lit up and a wide grin spread across her features.

“Why, Gabe. I thought you’d never ask! I-”

The sudden screech of static from the elevator’s comm speaker cut Sombra off, and she immediately clenched her hand to dismiss the photo. That was...oddly comforting. At least she didn’t seem keen on sharing the information that she had discovered.

_ ::Sombra, Reaper. You are both to report to Meeting Room 1E immediately.:: _

“Aw, looks like we’re being summoned,” Sombra giggled. She looked up at Reaper, giving him a quick wink. “Guess we’ll have to continue our little conversation later, then.”

In a stark contrast to Sombra’s good spirits, Reaper, on the other hand, felt exhausted and defeated. Sombra had played him expertly, dangling just enough information in front of him to lure him into her proverbial trap. Even if he did try to find Cassandra and their children on his own, Reaper couldn’t risk Sombra turning over the information to Talon. His family didn’t need, nor deserved, the destructive attention of the terrorist organization.

Like it or not, he was subject to Sombra’s whims. For now, at least…

“Um, Gabe? How are we going to get out?”

Pulled out of his thoughts, Reaper followed Sombra’s gaze to the broken elevator control panel. Though the doors were shut, the elevator itself hadn’t moved. For a brief moment, Reaper entertained the idea of simply ghosting out and leaving Sombra to her own devices. But, as much as it aggravated him to admit it, he needed to stay on her good side.

“We made it to the floor that we were supposed to go to, right?” Reaper sighed, looking to the elevator door.

“Yeah. Why?”

Drawing in a breath, Reaper braced himself and wedged the bloodied, metal tips of his gloves between the two doors. With a grunt, he began forcibly pulling the doors apart. They screeched under the force, but slowly gave way. Behind him, Sombra watched with wide eyes, staying far out of the way.

After a little more effort and pulling, Reaper had dragged the doors wide enough for Sombra to get through. Huffing a sigh and rolling his shoulders, he looked back to her. She snickered and strode by him, patting him on the arm as she stepped out of the elevator.

“Impressive show there, Gabe. Trying to get back in shape for when you meet  _ su esposa _ again?”

Despite himself, Reaper bristled at the statement. He glared at Sombra, but it was a look that went ignored. As he watched her leave, though, a nagging sense of worry began to crawl up his back.

What was he going to do?

Certainly, he could break her out of prison. That wasn’t of a concern to him. But...then what? Was he just going to let her go back into the world on her own? Did she even have anywhere to go? More to the point, would she even recognize him? Or would she only see the nightmare that he’d become?

Following Sombra to the meeting room, Reaper gave in and let his thoughts drift back to the memories of Cassandra he had tried to lock away. They had made for quite the pair, with each of them being as reckless and headstrong as the other. And, as cliche as it may have seemed, Cassandra had been one of the few people that Gabriel had been able to confide in and rely on without worry. At times, she had been the only one.

She’d...understood. Understood the actions he’d taken while in Overwatch and Blackwatch, no matter how brash they may have been. Not only that, but she had been willing to cover for him as best she could. Even when things had gotten to their worst, Cassandra had steadfastly remained on Gabriel’s side. And he on her’s.

It was that kind of loyalty that they had both ended up paying dearly for.

Reaper stopped the thoughts there. That was more than enough bitter reminiscing for now. While he couldn’t comment on his family’s current state, he knew that he had most definitely changed for the worse over the years. Perhaps it was better if Cassandra and their children  _ didn’t _ recognize him by now. They certainly didn’t need the nightmarish reincarnation of who had once been Gabriel Reyes in their lives.

At least Reaper could try and use the meeting as a means to distract himself, however temporarily...


	2. Best Laid Plans...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an awkward meeting, Reaper finally finds out what Sombra wants in exchange for information on Cassandra's whereabouts. Meanwhile, the very same Cassandra is being prepped for transportation to another prison facility.

Meanwhile, one ocean and many, many miles away from the Talon base, former Commander Ambassador Cassandra Waters-Reyes was stumbling down a remote prison hallway as she was unceremoniously dragged by both arms by two rather disgruntled guards. Sleep still fogged her mind and the lighting in the hallway was practically blinding, but Cassandra had a pretty good idea as to why she was being moved so abruptly. Someone who wasn’t supposed to know had tried to find out her location.

It just didn’t help that seemed like the entire world’s population wasn’t supposed to know about her any more.

The guards were grumbling between themselves about having to move a prisoner at such an ungodly hour of the morning, and if Cassandra hadn’t been in such a foul mood herself, she might have sympathized. Instead, she just stared ahead blearily to the end of the hallway. It had been five years and she was already well aware of what was going to happen next. And ultimately it would end with her being placed in a new facility that she’d never grow fully familiar with.

In the back of her mind, Cassandra couldn’t help but wonder two things. One, where she was going to be taken to next. Two, what was going to happen when her captors inevitably ran out of places to house her. Would they finally just flat out execute her then? It certainly wasn’t like anyone could stop them if they decided to do so.

“Still can’t believe this,” the first guard grumbled as she blew a stray lock of hair from her eyes. “Do people not have _constructive_ hobbies these days? Who the hell accesses old profile data at a quarter to two in the damn morning? Why couldn’t they have been doing something else? Anything else.”

“You got the same report, though,” the second guard countered. “Whoever did this wasn’t some bored teen trolling through the web. This person knew what they were. Not only did they take everything, but they didn’t leave a trace for us to follow. Could have been Santa Claus for all we know.”

Now _that_ was alarming. Cassandra had grown accustomed to being moved around thanks to some idiot wannabe hacker that had too much time on their hands. But this time the security breach sounded more professional. Cassandra could only hope that the culprit wasn’t the first person who sprang to mind.

“Still… Why her?” the first guard asked, motioning to Cassandra. “Who even cares about where she is? Who even _knows_ that she’s still alive?”

“You got to remember, she still has her two kids running around somewhere out there. Those little freaks of nature have been a pain in our backsides off and on ever since we first apprehended their mother.”

“Hmph. Don’t recall either of them being noteworthy hackers, though.”

The mention of her children made Cassandra bristle and her insides twist. Though she set her jaw and gritted her teeth, she reminded herself to remain calm. As dearly as she missed her children, acting on that longing would only make her trip more unpleasant than it was undoubtedly going to be. At the very least, Cassandra was able to find some comfort in the fact that, judging by the way the guards spoke, her children were still alive and free.

“Doesn’t matter, anyways,” the first guard continued. She jerked Cassandra’s arm roughly before smirking down at them. “Our guest of honor is getting a change of scenery, whether she likes it or not.”

“...lucky me,” Cassandra muttered, glancing up at the guard briefly. She quickly averted her gaze, though, and returned to looking ahead blankly with a smirk. “Think I can get a room with an actual view this time?”

“Hey, she speaks,” the second guard laughed. “We were starting to think that you were just sleepwalking with us.”

“I considered it, but then I would miss out on this riveting conversation,” Cassandra replied sarcastically, her smirk widening by a degree.

“You’re apparently awake enough to be a smartass,” the first guard commented. She gave Cassandra’s arm another rough tug, obviously unamused with their snide remark. “Keep it up and you’ll find yourself being transported without AC.”

Falling silent with a grumbled sigh, Cassandra continued to stumble her way down the hallway. The guards were keeping a rather brisk pace, which she found near impossible to keep up with. Partly because the guards weren’t in step with the other, and partly because her ankles were shackled.

Like she had somewhere to run to even if she did break free.

Upon reaching another set of heavy, reinforced doors that had a small guard station to the left, both guards stopped abruptly. Had they not had a tight grip on Cassandra’s arms, she might have pitched forward with how sudden the stop was. The first guard went into the station, while the second remained with Cassandra. Straightening her posture, but doing so slowly, Cassandra took the moment to gaze at her reflection in the dark, polished doors.

Despite her skin’s rich, sepia tone, the circles under her eyes seemed almost as dark as her pitch-black hair. Years of prison food had not been kind, and her features seemed more gaunt than they had ever been. The shadows cast on them were only emphasized by her long, unkempt hair that hung loosely around her face.

The sound of the first guard exiting the station, blinding visor in hand, pulled Cassandra out of her thoughts. She looked over at the guard, grimacing slightly at the sight of the opaque, onyx helmet. Noticing the expression, the guard shrugged halfheartedly, looking down at the helmet and then back to Cassandra.

“Yeah, I know. Sucks. But you know it’s part of the necessary routine.”

Sighing and nodding, Cassandra held still as the helmet was placed on her head. Not only did it render her completely blind, but it also muffled her hearing considerably. So even though Cassandra could hear that the guards were still talking, she could no longer make out what they were saying.

Not that it really mattered, anyways.

 

* * *

 

Reaper spent the majority of the meeting silently glowering at Sombra. Even though she couldn’t see the expression, she wisely didn’t say a word about Cassandra. If anything, she was relatively quiet by Sombra standards. Which was probably due to the fact that the meeting had been initiated with a lecture about punctuality and adherence to orders.

As Sombra went on expounding upon what she had found out about the potential hire at the Talon leader’s behest, Reaper tried to figure out what he should do. More importantly, he tried to guess what Sombra planned to do. She undoubtedly had some scheme that involved him, otherwise she wouldn’t have bothered teasing him with information about Cassandra to begin with.

But the worst part, by far, was that Reaper knew he was going to participate in Sombra’s little game. Whatever it ended up being.

“Reyes!”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Reaper jerked his gaze over to Doomfist. Both he and Sombra were giving him expectant looks, though the Talon leader definitely appeared more irritated. Unsure of what he had missed, but not about to admit such a thing, Reaper cleared his throat roughly.

“What?” he grumbled, trying to match Doomfists’s irritation.

“We were just asking if you had any ideas on how we should go about getting our new recruit, Gabe,” Sombra crooned. She then tilted her head and favored him with a prim, but obviously faked, smile. “You’ve been awfully quiet this whole time. Is everything okay? Something on your mind?”

“None of your business,” Reaper snapped back. He then turned his attention back to Doomfist, who was still frowning at him with disapproving irritation. “As for your question, I don’t. This is _your_ recruit and _your_ concern, not mine.”

` “We already know that they are willing to join Talon, and, as such, _are_ your concern,” Doomfist countered sharply. He paused before leveling a pointed look at Reaper, and when he spoke again, it was clear that he was in no mood for arguments. “And you _will_ be participating in their retrieval. So I suggest you start providing more helpful feedback.”

Sighing audibly and rolling his eyes, Reaper looked down at the illuminated maps spread out in front of him and Sombra. There were a few routes lightly traced out along them, though he doubted he would be following any of them. These were routes for low-ranking grunts, not someone who could ghost through vents or broken walls.

“Judging by the layout, it will be easy enough for me to get behind the main line of security. Should be able to take out more than a few of them before they realize what’s going on.”

“It’s definitely going to be a crazy mess, though,” Sombra commented, leaning forward to look at the maps herself. She glanced up at Reaper, raising an eyebrow. “You know that the guards aren’t going to be your only problem, right?”

“Hm?”

“We’re going to be extracting our new employee from a transport of high-profile criminals,” Sombra continued. She smirked and leaned back in her seat. “All of who are undoubtedly going to try and make a break for it as soon as the opportunity presents itself. And it’s not like any of these people were jailed for minor crimes, either.”

“And this is supposed to concern me why…?” Reaper grumbled with a wave of his hand as he leaned back in his seat.

“It’s not,” Doomfist interjected. “However, avoid killing them, if you can. Any one of them could have their uses in the future. Especially if they owe their freedom to Talon.”

“Very well.” Reaper looked over at the Talon leader. “But if any of them take a swing at me, they’re pulling back a broken arm. At the _least_.”

“So long as they’re not dead.”

While he could have argued that he wasn’t renowned for simply maiming his targets, Reaper opted to keep quiet. No need to test Doomfist’s patience if it could be avoided. And already he was trying to figure out ways to pry more information about Cassandra from Sombra. Anything he did would have to be done with delicate discretion, neither of which he was particularly good at these days.

Reaper managed to pay attention for the rest of the meeting, and, fortunately, didn’t have to contribute much else to the conversation. Sombra was the main focus, anyways, and she did more than enough talking for both of them. She also did so quite well and with a particular degree of enthusiasm. Though Reaper didn’t miss the occasional, knowing smirk that she would toss his way when Doomfist wasn’t looking.

 

When a plan of attack had been agreed upon, the meeting was adjourned and Reaper and Sombra were dismissed. Surprisingly enough, as soon as they were out the door, Sombra began to skip off away from Reaper without a word. Not about to let her off the hook that easily, Reaper reached out and grabbed Sombra’s shoulder. He dragged her back over to him, ignoring her protests and weak attempts to wriggle free of his grasp.

Reaper continued to pull her down the hallway until they reached a dark, empty meeting room that was four doors away from the one they had just left. He shoved the door open, pulled Sombra into the room along with him, and shut the door firmly behind them. Not wasting a second, he pivoted immediately to face her. Crossing his arms, Reaper scowled down at the young woman expectantly, though well aware she couldn’t see the expression.

“You never answered me. What do you want?”

“What do I want for what?” Sombra asked with a grin and feigned innocence.

“Testing my patience would be a very bad idea right about now, Sombra,” Reaper warned. “Because if you think I won’t-”

“Okay, okay,” the young woman interrupted with a giggle. She hummed thoughtfully and tapped at her chin. “Hm… What do I want? What _do_ I want? There are so many choices. So difficult to choose.”

Reaper gave Sombra about a minute before he began to tap his foot impatiently. He knew she was just dragging things out. There was no way she would have approached him without having _something_ in mind as a means of recompense. Especially now that she knew she had Reaper’s rapt attention on the matter.

“Well, for starters,” Sombra suddenly leaned forward, tapping at Reaper’s mask, “I’ve never seen the face you’re hiding under that mask.”

Reflexively stiffening and jerking his head away, Reaper grabbed Sombra’s wrist tightly before pushing her hand away.

“Not happening,” he stated firmly.

Besides, Reaper highly doubted that Sombra was willing to divulge some of what she’d found out just to see his mangled features. No, she was just testing the waters to see what she could and couldn’t get away with.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Sombra paused, then grinned up at Reaper slyly. “What if _Cassandra_ asked you to take off the mask, huh? Would you do it then?”

“No.”

Though even he wasn’t entirely sure about how true his reply was, the reasons Reaper didn’t want Cassandra seeing what was left of his face were far different than the ones he had in regards to Sombra.

“Jeez… You can be a real grouch, you know?” With a huff and a quick twirl, Sombra began pacing back and forth dramatically. She had her hands folded behind her back, and acted as though she was deep in thought and deliberation. Finally, she glanced back over to Reaper. “I think the better question is; what do _you_ want to know, Gabe?”

“Everything.”

The answer tumbled from his scarred lips before he could stop it, and Reaper immediately regretted the response. He would have to be far more reserved about his answers if he wanted to avoid being Sombra’s errand boy for the rest of his days.

“Everything is pretty expensive, you know.”

“So what do you want, then?” Reaper demanded steely. “I haven’t got all damn day.”

“Okay, okay… We’ll start with something small, then.” Sombra suddenly held out her hand and opened it with a quick, flicking motion. Two small, glowing cubes popped into existence, both hovering just above her upwards-facing palm. “I’ll even let you choose your reward, Gabe. Pick one.”

“What are they?”

“This one,” Sombra tapped at the right cube, “is a short video of Cassandra. Just basic surveillance stuff of her walking around. Or…” Sombra then pointed to the left cube. “This little video here looks to be older, but it’s of Cassandra _and_ her kids.”

Despite knowing which one he wanted almost immediately, Reaper purposefully took his time before answering. He watched Sombra from behind his mask, and the young woman gazed back at him expectantly. Finally, he motioned to the left cube.

“That one.”

“Aw, concerned about the wife and kids. How sweet,” Sombra crooned, though there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. She then snapped her hand into a fist, taking both cubes out of existence with the motion. Obviously quite pleased with herself and more than a little emboldened, Sombra strode forward and walked her index and middle fingers up Reaper’s chest before playfully tapping at the chin of his mask. “There’s this little prototype digital-state drive that I was hoping to get my hands on. A very particular and _powerful_ one. Unfortunately, someone got their hands on it before I could and they’re not willing to part with it. So…I want _you_ to go and convince them to give it to me, Gabe.”

“Fine.” Reaper paused, then tilted his head slightly. “And should they be alive or dead after I’m through _convincing_ them?”

“So long as you’re able to get that digital drive to me safe and sound, I don’t care,” Sombra replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“...and that’s all?” Reaper asked, careful to mask the incredulous tone that threatened to seep into his voice.

“That’s all!” Sombra chirped. She then patted Reaper on the chest. “And don’t worry, Gabe. I’ll make sure to provide you with all the details you need so that you get the right one. Don’t want you making a second trip, after all.”

Swallowing the disgust that was rising in his throat at the idea of being Sombra’s little errand boy, Reaper instead gave a short, simple nod of affirmation. Besides, if she was going to make things oddly easy for him, then he certainly wasn’t going to complain.


	3. Errand Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While plans for Cassandra's freedom are discussed by her stepbrother and children, Reaper returns to the Talon base, more specifically Sombra, to receive his well-earned reward.

Clutching two plastic bags worth of fast food as he quietly snuck back into the cheap, poorly kept, but hardly monitored motel, Neil couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder once again. He hadn’t been able to shake the nagging feeling of being followed ever since he’d stepped outside the fast food restaurant. Of course, there was nobody there. Nobody in their right mind would want to come to such a derelict motel, but that did little to assuage his paranoia.

Sighing and fumbling with the chipped keycard he had been given by the front desk, Neil swiped it in front of the lock…

...and nothing happened.

The feeling of unease immediately morphed into the beginnings of panic, but, taking in a deep breath, Neil forced himself to remain calm. Or, at the very least, _act_ like he was remaining calm. He drew in a long breath and swiped the keycard again.

Still nothing.

Glancing up at the illuminated number printed on the door, confirming that he had the right room, Neil frowned and began furiously swiping the keycard back and forth over the lock. It remained frustratingly unresponsive, mocking him with its silence. Finally, and with much reluctance, Neil moved his hand to knock very lightly on the door.

And as soon as he did, the lock beeped cheerily as it disengaged.

Muffling the urge to curse at the contrary lock, Neil fumbled with the doorknob, trying to yank it open before the lock reengaged. Fortunately, the doorknob was more agreeable than the lock, and Neil managed to stumble through the door rather unceremoniously. At least he managed to avoid dropping the-

“They moved her again!” Elias announced, materializing abruptly in front of Neil.

With a yelp, the scrawny, blond man staggered backwards, his back hitting the door. One of the bags of food slipped from his grasp, and would have hit the floor had Elias not deftly snagged it in midair. He grinned excitedly at his uncle, ebony wisps still faintly rising from his shoulders.

“What are you trying to do!? Give me a heart attack?!” Neil gasped, clutching at his chest with his now freed hand.

Rolling his dark brown eyes, Elias scoffed and shook his head. He roughly combed back his ebony hair before smirking at Neil.

“No, I was going to let you in. I could hear you doing...god knows what with the lock. Thought you might have forgotten how it worked or something.” With that, Elias turned his attention to the food in the bag. “Ooh, you remembered to get extra fries.”

“I...yes, of course I did,” Neil wheezed. He then held out the other bag of food, looking at his nephew. “You going to take this one, too? Or am I supposed to just stand here and-”

“Mine now!”

In an instant Elisa, Elias’s twin sister, coalesced into existence in a flurry of dark crimson and black smoke. Her right arm was one of the first parts of her to solidify, and it shot out of the smoke to snatch the bag from Neil’s grasp. The rest of her body soon solidified, revealing the grin that Elisa was giving her uncle. She even managed to ignore Neil’s second shriek and attempt to scrabble up the closed door.

“Thanks, Neil!”

With that, Elisa sauntered over to the ratty couch that her brother was seated at. She flopped down onto the cushions, already pawing through the contents of the bag. Her brother already had a mouthful of fries and was trying to not-so-gracefully tear open a small sauce packet without much luck.

“Give me one of those,” Elisa demanded, trying to reach into the bag that Elias had in his lap.

“Nuh! Gef uhr owh,” Elias retorted, batting away his sister’s hand.

Frowning at her sibling for a moment, Elisa waited...and then suddenly teleported to the other side of the couch. It was another flurry of crimson and smoke, with her materializing right beside Elias. She dove at the bag, managing to snag a sauce packet in her grasp. Elias’s reaction, however, was lightning fast, and he probably would have succeeded in getting the packet back from his sister had it not been for Neil’s interjection.

“Cut it out, you two,” the blond man reprimanded, still obviously frazzled from his two earlier scares. “I’m sure there’s more than enough of that sodium-filled garbage for the both of you.”

For a few seconds, Elias and Elisa were focused solely on the food. Then, remembering in unison why they had been so eager to greet their uncle at the door, they visibly perked up. Elias attempted to talk first, but his mouth was still stuffed with deep-fried potato pieces. Rolling her eyes at her sibling, Elisa looked back to Neil.

“They’re moving mom again,” she announced.

Now able to fully comprehend the statement, Neil stared at his niece for a moment. His sister, Cassandra, had been moved to a new facility just three months ago. This sort of move, so quick and so soon, was highly unusual. At the very least, her captors tried to keep her locked up for a year.

“Really? Why?” Neil paused, then frowned in concern. “It wasn’t...um, you know…”

“We don’t know,” Elisa replied with a shrug. “We just barely found out about it a few minutes ago. T just happened to be doing a check on the prisoner list of where mom _was_ being kept and noticed that the alias that they were using for her wasn’t showing up any more. And none of the old ones were, either.”

“So they either gave her a new name in the middle of her stay, which is unlikely,” Neil muttered, pacing back and forth slowly. “Or she’s been moved.”

“Mmhm,” Elias agreed. He looked over at his sister, then to his uncle. “What are we going to do? DId we want to try and intercept like we did the last time?”

“No, no. That was an absolute wreck,” Neil sighed, shaking his head quickly. “Almost got us killed and made it impossible to find her for nearly a year.”

“Yeah. That...that sucked. A lot,” Elisa commented with a frown.

“We can’t just sit by and do nothing, though,” Elias countered. He then paused, an idea springing up in his head. “What about...trying to intercept right before she’s taken in? There’s less places for the guards and transport to escape or drive off to.”

“Which also means less escape routes for us, too,” Neil pointed out.

“You say that like it’s a problem,” Elisa replied with a smirk, dark wisps rising from her shoulders as her eyes flashed deep crimson.

‘Okay, so it’s a problem for _me_ ,” Neil retorted curtly. He then waved a hand at his niece. “And cut that out, would you?”

“Why? It’s not like anybody can see me except for the only people who don’t care.”

“Because it’s creepy and I said so,” Neil huffed. He then grumbled under his breath so neither of the twins could hear. “...and makes you way too much like your father.”

“Uncle Neil, how have you not had a heart attack yet?” Elias asked thoughtfully, munching on another fry.

“I don’t know. The grace of God or something. Or maybe all the drugs I did back when I was younger just happened to give me an incredible resistance to shock,” he muttered. Combing back his pale blond hair with his spindly fingers, Neil sighed and looked down at the floor. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think your idea may be the best one we’ve got. But there’s going to be no room for error. If we screw this up like we did last time, they’ll lock Cassie up so far away that we’ll never see her again. Or they’ll be putting us six feet under. Or both.”

Those possibilities obviously didn’t sit well with the twins, and they both went quiet. Deep in thought, they ate the rest of their food in silence, while their uncle continued to pace back and forth slowly. Occasionally he would mutter to himself, but it was just him thinking aloud. The twins, however, had already made up their minds.

There wouldn’t be any mistakes made this time.

 

* * *

 

Once again safely back in Talon’s main base of operations, Reaper stepped into the elevator. He had been careful to keep his leave and return a secret, as he didn’t want anybody else other than Sombra knowing what he had been doing. As soon as the door slid shut and dinged cheerily at him, the masked man sighed heavily and slumped against the cold elevator wall. Looking down at his bloodied hand, he gazed at the slim, faintly glowing digital drive.

It seemed an incredibly trivial thing to be willing to die for. But that was indeed what its previous owner had been ready to do. And, with what was currently on the line, Reaper had been all too ready to oblige.

The entire ordeal hadn’t been without its costs, though. The black-robed Talon leader was now sporting a few new gunshot wounds that would, eventually, heal on their own. More irritating was the fact that his trenchcoat was now sporting the same, bullet-sized holes. And, despite the wounds being able to heal on their own, such an ability did little to numb the pain of said wounds.

Nonetheless, it put Reaper in a bad enough mood that Sombra would be suicidal to test his patience now. He only hoped that, for her sake, she understood that. As the elevator door slid open with another ding, Reaper strode down the hallway, fighting to ignore the fiery barbs of pain in his right side as his body worked to repair the injured flesh.

As he approached Sombra’s ‘office’, as she liked to call it, Reaper straightened his posture. He didn’t want her to perceive him as weak in any way. While she wasn’t one to try and take advantage of such a thing, Reaper wasn’t in the mindset to humor the inevitable mockery that would ensue.

Hammering his fist on the door, Reaper waited for it to open. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long. Almost instantly the door slid open, and Sombra, seated at one of the three, monitor-laden desks that took up a majority of space in her living quarters, motioned him over. She was grinning at him excitedly, sitting on the edge of her seat. If she noticed that Reaper was bloodied, she certainly didn’t react to it.

“So…?” Sombra asked, somehow managing to scoot a little closer. She tilted her head up to Reaper, the glow from the monitors acting as the only lights in the room and casting an eerie glow on her features. “Did you get it?”

For a long moment, Reaper studied her from the darkness of the room. Then, drawing in a long breath, he held out the digital drive, offering it to the hacker. She snatched it out of his hand immediately upon seeing it. She grinned down gleefully at the drive, looking it over as though it were a precious gem.

“Excellent job, Gabe!” she smiled up slyly at Reaper. “I knew I could count on you.”

“I didn’t do this as a courtesy, Sombra,” Reaper snapped back. He glanced over her desk, but saw no sign of the cube she had offered him days ago. “Where is it?”

There was a split second where Reaper thought that Sombra was really going to try and risk double-crossing him, but, just as he was about ready to reach over the desk and grab her, the hacker spun in her chair and began rifling through the contents of a drawer. Though he couldn’t see anything, Reaper couldn’t help but slightly tilt his head to get a better view. His gaze flicked over to the monitors, but they all displayed information that he couldn’t care less about it. All it was was data on their upcoming recruit.

“Here we are!” Sombra announced proudly as she produced a familiar looking cube. She fiddled with it for a moment before offering it over to Reaper. “The button to activate the controls is on the bottom. Should be impossible to miss. But, if you have any problems, just ask.”

Snatching the cube from Sombra’s hand as quickly as she had the digital drive from his, Reaper gazed down at the data cube for a moment. He then flicked his gaze back to Sombra, who was smiling primly at him. Finally, with a nod, Reaper pivoted and took his leave.

“...thanks,” he muttered as he strode out of the doorway.

“It’s going to be great doing business with you, Gabriel.”

Though he forced himself not to react, Reaper couldn’t help but feel a slight chill go through him at that statement. Even though he was eager to get his hands on whatever information he could about his family, he hated being at the whims of someone as self-serving and unpredictable as Sombra. This first ‘errand’ of her’s had been easy enough to get through. Sure, Reaper had more blood on his hands, but that was something he had long since stopped caring about.

...but there was nothing saying that the second job she had for him would be this easy. Or, worse yet, what if he was caught running these ‘errands’ for her? Sombra wouldn’t be the one reprimanded. He, however, would be derided without end. Not to mention it would then put his family into Talon’s crosshairs. And, despite working for the organization, that was the _last_ thing that Reaper wanted to have happen.

Dismissing the unpleasant thoughts for now, Reaper made his way to his own living quarters. The door itself was triple-locked with two passcodes and a biometric reader. The heavy security was all for good reason, as within said living quarters was one of the few places that Reaper would dare remove his mask.

After tapping in the passcodes, Reaper held still as the biometric reader scanned over his mask. It was a peculiar thing. The biometric reader seemed to recognize that there was still a face, or what was  left of a face, behind the mask. Because when the reader had been tested by holding up a copy of Reaper’s mask in front of it, the scan had been rejected and the lock had remained engaged. Reaper didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t going to argue.

As soon as the door slid open, Reaper hurried in, closing and locking the door securely behind him. Knowing that he was alone, he finally allowed himself a moment of weakness. Wincing and gingerly touching at his wounded side, he ghosted the metal fingertips of his glove over the bullet wounds. They ached and still slowly oozed a little blood, but already he could feel they had almost finished healing.

Growling against the pain, Reaper walked over to the small desk in his room. The living quarters themselves were more like a luxurious studio apartment. There was a queen-sized bed, the desk with a laptop on it, and a living room conjoined to the bedroom, complete with a couch and television. There was even a bathroom with a shower and bathtub.

Basically, it was everything needed to ensure that Reaper could left alone and not be bothered unless absolutely necessary. And while he thought the extravagance was a bit much, he certainly wasn’t going to refuse it. If he was going to have to call this place his home for the rest of his life, it might as well be comfortable.

Sitting down at the desk, slouching slightly in the chair, Reaper bit back another grimace of pain. He did get some satisfaction remembering that the people responsible for shooting him died very slow and painful deaths. Not to mention it was their deaths that were helping heal the bullet wounds.

Staring down at the cube, Reaper found himself hesitating, oddly enough. He had been so hellbent on getting this video of Cassandra and the kids, but now, with it right before him, Reaper found himself almost...afraid to view it. He had no idea what was on the video, now that he considered it. Moreover, he didn’t know how he’d react to it.

...what if he didn’t react at all? What if he was so far gone, had turned into such a monster, that the sight of his own wife and children didn’t evoke a single feeling from him?

Finally, mentally cursing his reluctance, Reaper grabbed up the cube and pressed the button on the bottom firmly. He had been shot at, been shot, and reduced himself to an errand boy for this damn video. He sure as hell wasn’t going back off now.

Sure enough, a little, glowing control panel popped up in front of the cube. Pausing for a brief moment, Reaper reached up with a bloodied hand and slowly removed his mask. He didn’t want his first view of his family in years to be obscured by it. So, setting the mask aside, Reaper tapped the “Play” button. He noted with irritation that his finger actually trembled ever so slightly with the action.

A large screen suddenly sprung up from the cube, and in an instant, the pain that Reaper was in seemed to be a distant memory. There before him was Cassandra, seated on a bench in what appeared to be a park. She was much younger than she would be now, but still as breathtaking as Gabriel remembered.

The video itself was obviously a surveillance video of some sort, but that hardly mattered. It was in a mercifully sharp focus; enough that Gabriel could see Cassandra was keeping a sharp lookout. Then a warm smile bloomed across her face just as one of their children scampered up to her.

Elias. His son.

A quick guess told Gabriel that his son was probably eleven or twelve, though it was impossible to be sure. He didn’t care. The last time he had actually seen his son, they had been a shy and withdrawn six year old. They’d clung tightly to his hand, unwilling to follow his twin sister as they’d scampered around their mother’s office.

But there they were, proudly showing their mother the turtle they had managed to catch. To her credit, Cassandra seemed proud of their son, even if she did seem to be attempting to convince him that they couldn’t keep the reptile. As she spoke with Elias, she smoothed back his black hair, pointing to someplace off-screen.

Though he started to go in the direction his mother had pointed, Elias suddenly stopped. In a few seconds, Gabriel saw why. His daughter and Elias’s twin, Elisa, came bounding into view, obviously eager to see what her brother had managed to catch. As soon as she saw the turtle, however, she made a face and backpedaled. To which Elias took as an invitation to chase her around the bench while holding the now very confused turtle out to her.

Sighing and leaning back, Cassandra kept her seat on the bench as she watched their two children run circles around her. Her smile never wavered, and she seemed content to let the twins run themselves tired. At least, she was until her dark gaze flicked up and she obviously noticed whoever it was taking the surveillance video.

In an instant, his wife’s demeanor changed and her smile went from being sincere to forced for the sake of keeping up appearances, and Gabriel felt himself instinctively bristle. Something, or more likely someone, had made her feel threatened. Despite the demeanor change, Cassandra appeared to keep her wits about her. Instead of reacting by snatching up the children in a hurry, she appeared to simply reprimand the twins for acting out. Then she instructed Elias to go where she had pointed to earlier, only this time she firmly grabbed Elisa’s hand and took the young girl with her.

As soon as the three were out of view, the video came to an abrupt end. It was only when it clicked off that Gabriel noticed that his jaw felt rather odd. He was smiling. And it was a smile that he had thought himself incapable of mustering up. One that was sincere, and devoid of any malice or murderous intent. It felt...foreign to have such an expression on his features.

Sighing heavily, Gabriel looked down at the still illuminated control panel. This time, he didn’t hesitate. He reached down and tapped on the “Reverse” button a few times until a still image of Cassandra and the twins came into focus.

Now able to study her for a little longer, and now able to collect his thoughts somewhat, Gabriel could see just how tired Cassandra appeared. She’d always been a stoic woman. Absolutely loathed admitting any sort of weakness to anyone, including him. But during their time together, Gabriel had been able to eventually notice the signs of when Cassandra was nearing her breaking point.

In the still image, it looked as though she had reached that point and been forced to keep going.

An emotion of...something twisted its way through Gabriel’s core. It was a cold and unpleasant feeling. One that Gabriel hadn’t felt in so long he almost hadn’t recognized it. Now, though, after consideration, he bitterly realized it was remorse.

Grumbling a sigh, Gabriel turned his gaze back to the image. By now, despite himself, he couldn’t help but look fondly over their two kids. Even on her own, it seemed that Cassandra had done as good a job as possible raising the two. As his gaze drifted back to his wife, Gabriel carefully reached up and started to trace along the outline of her face. Then he caught sight of the bloodied metal tips adorning his glove and Gabriel angrily withdrew his hand in bitter self-disgust.


	4. Readouts and Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Though having just barely recuperated, Reaper finds himself being summoned to Moira's laboratory. Though he intends to keep his arrangement with Sombra a secret, his very vitals might betray him.

The next hour passed without Gabriel even realizing it. Even as his wounded flesh knitted itself back together, the discomfort barely registered in his mind. Instead, his focus was on the surveillance footage that he kept replaying over and over. Whatever trepidation he may have had before about watching it was long gone. In its place had arisen a sort of fascination bordering on obsession in seeing his family alive and well. It was as though each time he watched the footage, he was reminding himself that they were, in fact, still alive.

It was only the sound of his room phone ringing that interrupted the dark-haired man’s thoughts. With no small degree of annoyance written plainly on his mangled features, Gabriel glowered at the phone for at least three rings. Finally, before it could go to voicemail, he tapped the speakerphone button with a bit more force than was necessary.

_ “Gabriel, are you well?” _

It was Moira. The sound of her voice did little to soothe Gabriel’s irritation, but was in enough of a good mood to be mannerly.

“Yes. Why?”

There was a pause, and then the sound of Moira clearing her throat.

_ “You did not show up for your weekly check up,” _ she explained calmly.  _ “I was worried that something may have gone wrong or that you were physically unable to attend.” _

Oh, that’s right. He  _ did _ have an appointment with the red-haired scientist. Sighing and rolling his eyes, Gabriel slouched back in his chair, giving the phone a tired, annoyed look. His weekly check ups had been at Moira’s insistence, as there hadn’t been a change in his ‘condition’ for months now. In fact, Gabriel had a suspicion that the check ups were more for Moira’s benefit than his own. More to appease her guilty conscience than to actually monitor his health.

“No, I’m fine,” Gabriel replied curtly. “I just...lost track of time.”

It wasn’t a total lie.

_ “I see.” _ There was another pause before Moira continued.  _ “In that case, would you like to come down to my laboratory in about thirty minutes? I can have everything ready for you then.” _

Glancing down at his side, Gabriely quickly assessed his wounds. He ran his fingertips over them  and, upon feeling nothing, roughly rubbed his palm against them. There was still a slight twinge, but he couldn’t feel any torn or damaged flesh. And he could muffle a twinge of pain without a second thought. All he would have to do would be to get into a new change of clothes.

Of course, Gabriel could also decline Moira’s offer. But he was fairly certain that doing so would cause her to be more suspicious, and thus ask more questions, than she already was. From Gabriel’s point of view, it would just be easier to go and get the pointless check up over and done with.

“I can be there in forty-five minutes,” he retorted before promptly ending the call.

Still slouched in his chair, Gabriel sighed again and looked at the cube still sitting on his desk. He picked it up gingerly and turned it around slowly. It was still, of course, in pristine condition, and part of him wanted to activate the footage replay feature once again. But he knew that doing so would be a distraction, and there were things that had to be done.

So, with a bit of reluctance, Gabriel put the cube in the top drawer of his desk. Just to be safe, he pushed it to the back of the drawer so that it was hidden amongst some papers and the shadows. True, nobody had dared try to enter his room ever since he joined Talon, but Gabriel wasn’t about to take any chances.

Then, with that, the ebony-haired man rose from his chair and headed to the bathroom of his suite. The first thing he needed to do was get cleaned up so that there weren’t remnants of his bloody outing still streaked on his ghostly skin. That and it would allow him to ensure that there were no injuries that were still healing.

As he shed the last pieces of his damaged clothes, Gabriel paused. Though he was in front of the large mirror that adorned one wall of the bathroom, Gabriel had made sure to keep his back to it. Mirrors were something that he actively avoided these days, as they only served to remind him of what a hideous monster he had become.

But there were times that even a monster had to face their reflection, and this was one of those times. Grumbling under his breath, Gabriel turned to the mirror quickly, not wanting to draw out the moment. In a reflexive attempt to try and keep his pride from being too wounded, he even tilted his head back slightly, as though he was staring down his own reflection. Even if it was a contest that he knew his reflection would win.

The majority of his injuries had been to his right side, but, thankfully, that could hardly be discerned by this point. The gunshot wounds themselves were gone, and even the veins of regenerative energy that had helped erase them had faded. If anything, the most eye-catching thing was the streaks of dark blood that the wounds had left in their wake.

After doing a bit more inspecting to ensure that blood smears were his biggest concern, Gabriel finally turned on the shower. He didn’t pay much attention to what the temperature was. While he could still register the sensations of hot and cold, they didn’t affect him the same way they had when he had been alive. By now, the effects were considerably muted.

As he started to step into the awaiting, running water, Gabriel paused. Despite his earlier reluctance, he found himself looking over his shoulder back to his reflection. His eyes were glowing a soft crimson, and it seemed like the numerous scars that marked his body were particularly visible now. But it wasn’t because of his body having to heal itself.

Grip on the shower curtain intensifying slowly as his gaze drifted away from his reflection, a question that had been on Gabriel’s mind ever since he had returned to the base crept back to the forefront of his thoughts.

What would Cassandra think of him now?

It was a question that Gabriel didn’t even want to think about, much less know the answer to. Nonetheless, it gnawed at him relentlessly. Because, even though he was almost completely certain that he knew the answer to that question, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel the smallest twinge of hope that perhaps Cassandra would still see the traces of Gabriel that were left in the Reaper he had become.

She had always been like that, too. Patient and open-minded. But only with Gabriel. It had been something that Gabriel had always appreciated and felt a little privileged by. That even when he had to withhold information and went against direct orders, Cassandra had been patient enough to listen to his explanation. No matter how late said explanation came, she had waited. And even if she didn’t agree with his reasoning, Cassandra had at least been open-minded enough to trust in Gabriel’s judgment. That was something that the former Blackwatch commander had rarely been granted, even by his own colleagues.

But now…

Now what if Cassandra could only see a monster?

The thought was not something that Gabriel wanted to consider at the moment. Not when he could content himself with images and videos of the past. Those would just have to be enough for now.

As he stepped into the shower waters that rained down, Gabriel tried to just focus on the present. He needed to keep his thoughts collected so as to have a civil and neutral appointment with Moira. Fortunately, the warm waters were doing well to calm both his mind and body.

Wait…

Gabriel paused, looking down at his hands and then over his body quickly before down to the water control knob. It was set to warm, but that hadn’t been a concern of his when he had been turning the waters on. This was the first time in...a very long time that Gabriel actually  _ felt _ something more than just the sensation of the waters hitting his pale skin.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the bewilderment, Gabriel forced himself to focus on the task at hand. He could ponder such a subtle change later. Right now he just had to make himself as presentable as possible. Because the one person that he would begrudgingly remove his mask for was the same person he would be meeting in a short while. And Moira had an incredible knack for reading his expression, no matter how neutral he tried to keep it.

 

* * *

 

The rest of his preparations went smoothly enough, and Reaper soon found himself roaming the halls of the Talon base once more. There were more soldiers milling about by now, but none of them dared get in his way. Some of them even went out of their way to avoid Reaper, and that was just fine with him.

Of course, the closer he got to Moira’s laboratory, the fewer people he encountered. Even soldiers that had been with Talon for years didn’t want to go near Moira’s lab. Though there were undoubtedly a variety of reasons for such a thing, Reaper suspected that one of the main ones was that none of the soldiers wanted to end up like him.

As he approached it, the door to the lab slid open with a faint hiss. Moira was hastily jotting down a few notes onto a tablet, though she motioned for Reaper to come in. That was something that he had always found odd about the scientist. Even with all the technology available to her, Moira preferred to handwrite some of her notes with a stylus and tablet. Then again, it could have very well been a security measure, as her handwriting was near illegible to anybody but her.

Finishing her notes, Moira lifted her gaze and smiled politely at Reaper.

“Ah, so glad you could make it.” The scientist motioned to a cushioned chair, which was made for and customized for medical patients. “Please, have a seat so that we can begin.”

With a short huff and a nod, Reaper obliged. He wasn’t exactly keen on what was about to happen, but it needed to be done. Better to get it over with, in any case.

Pushing over a small tray of medical tools and monitoring equipment, Moira waited patiently for Reaper to get situated. As soon as he had, she reached to remove his mask. Reflexively, Reaper snapped his hand up and grabbed Moira’s wrist tightly. The scientist gasped in surprise and blinked down at the black-robed man before sighing and smiling faintly.

“It’s alright, Gabriel. I made sure that the door was securely locked behind you,” she assured. “Besides, you know that the windows are made of one-way glass. Nobody can see into the lab, only we can see out.”

Though he knew what Moira said was true, Reaper still made a disgruntled growl in response. Even so, he released Moira’s wrist before reaching up and slowly removing his mask. He could do that on his own, at the very least.

Again, Moira waited patiently for Reaper to set aside his mask. Once he had, she immediately set to work pushing aside his coat and unzipping the shirt he was wearing underneath. In a matter of minutes she had precisely adhered a few monitoring pads to Reaper’s chest, and with a flick of her slender finger, she activated the machine they were hooked up to. There was a clicking noise and the machine whirred to life, spitting out a report of Reaper’s vitals, or lack thereof, within seconds.

Though he couldn’t make sense of the reports himself, Moira seemed to be pleased with them. She hummed and nodded approvingly, before turning her attention back to Reaper. She leaned forward and grasped his chin gently, and slowly turned his head from one side to the other. Though he felt like some sort of science experiment on display, Reaper kept quiet. This was all part of the check up and he had long since gotten used to going through these motions.

As she looked over Gabriel’s scarred and damaged features, Moira couldn’t help but notice something rather odd. His eyes were still glowing a faint crimson, which was unusual given that they normally glowed after he used one of his abilities. And Moira was fairly certain that he had not used any of his abilities to get here. There wouldn’t have been a point unless Gabriel had felt like showing off.

And the idea of Gabriel wanting to show off to anyone was downright laughable.

“Hm…”

Frowning at the scientist’s tone, the dark-haired man looked up at her and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

“What is it?” he asked steely.

“Just...different, is all,” Moira finally answered, straightening her posture. She then looked over to the reports of Gabriel’s vitals, and once again found herself mildly surprised. They were stronger than what was now considered the norm. Not by much, but enough to make a difference in the readouts. “Very different.”

“I’m not in the mood to play one of your guessing games,” Gabriel hissed. “What is different?”

“Well...everything, to be blunt.” Sighing quietly in mild exasperation, Moira looked back over the vital readouts before back to Gabriel. Now his eyes were glowing brighter, but that was to be expected as his temper was rising. Trying to defuse the already tense situation, Moira held up a hand. She started to set it on Gabriel’s shoulder, but thought better of it. “Humor me for a few questions, please. It’s all so that I may be able to better explain things.”

“...very well.”

“On your way here, did you happen to use any of your abilities? Even just to take a quick shortcut?”

“No. There was no need to.”

“I see.” Moira tapped at her chin in thought for a moment before continuing. “Have you been outside of the base recently?”

Though he didn’t answer, the fact that Gabriel bristled visibly was more than enough of an answer for Moira. It was not an answer she had expected, though. She had not heard of any Talon missions, and typically Gabriel would come to her for a quick check up before heading out to do anything.

“Nowhere,” Gabriel finally grumbled, looking away. He was mentally cursing himself for having reacted to Moira’s question at all, but it had caught him off guard. Obviously something about him had caught her attention and now she was giving him the twenty-one questions treatment. “I’ve been here the-”

“Gabriel, don’t lie to me,” Moira interrupted with a wave of her hand. “I saw how you reacted to my question, and I know that Talon has not had any missions as of late.” The red-haired woman frowned questioningly. “Where did you go?”

Falling silent and setting his jaw, Gabriel breathed out a long sigh that almost sounded like a  hiss. He glared down at his boots, eyes beginning to glow brightly once again. Though the signs of his rising anger were there, Moira wasn’t going to let the subject drop. Something had been important enough for Gabriel to go out. And Moira assumed that he had gone out on his own, which was even more curious.

Suddenly, Gabriel lunged forward and grabbed the collar of Moira’s lab coat. He yanked her down so close that their foreheads bumped together and their noses would have touched had Gabriel still had his. His eyes flared crimson, and dark wisps of excess energy began to rise from his shoulders. Despite having seen such a reaction before, Moira couldn’t help but gasp shortly at the sudden and near violent reaction. She reached up with a faintly trembling hand to gently hold onto Gabriel’s wrist, trying to wordlessly remind him that he was much stronger than her physically. Dangerously so.

“You are not to tell  _ anybody _ about this,” Gabriel growled, holding Moira as close as he could manage. “Understood?”

Well, whatever it was that Gabriel had gone after, it certainly was important. So, knowing she had no real choice, Moira nodded slowly in agreement.

“Understood.”

Lapsing into silence, Gabriel released Moira and sat back in the chair. He gazed down blankly at the tiled floor, debating on whether or not he was making the right choice in telling her about his current arrangement with Sombra. While he didn’t think he was, trying to lie about it would only complicate matters in the long run. And, at the very least, he could find some comfort in the fact that, out of all the people in Talon, Moira was one of the ones most unlikely to double cross him.

So, with a short huff, Gabriel looked back up to the scientist.

“Do you remember Cassandra?”

Now that was a response that Moira wouldn’t have anticipated in a million years. She most definitely remembered Cassandra. Not only because the woman was Gabriel’s deceased wife, but because she had never gotten along well with Moira. The scientist suspected that they held a grudge due to the experiments that had been run on Gabriel, but she had never pressed the matter. Cassandra’s temper could be just as bad as Gabriel’s.

“Of course I do, Gabriel,” Moira replied quietly, noting that his eyes had gone back to their dim glow. “But what does that have to do with you going-”

“She’s alive.”

The interruption stunned Moira into silence, and she blinked wide-eyed at Gabriel. The dark-haired man studied her expression for a moment before smirking.

“At least, I’m fairly certain she’s alive. Her and the kids,” Gabriel continued. He sighed heavily and grimaced, rubbing at his face roughly before dragging his hand down to smooth out his beard. “That’s what  _ Sombra _ has told me, in any case.”

Ah, there was the missing puzzle piece. It would have been one thing if Gabriel had found out about his wife’s current status on his own. But the fact that Sombra was involved most certainly complicated matters. It would also explain why he was being so guarded about the matter. Moira couldn’t help but wonder just how far Sombra intended to string poor Gabriel along before he couldn’t take it any more.

“Oh, I see,” Moira said quietly. She started to ask a question, paused, then decided it was best to proceed. “Might I ask how you know she’s telling you the truth?”

“She has evidence. Photos, surveillance footage, that sort of thing. She found out about Cassandra while looking up information about our potential recruit. Turns out that Cass is currently being held prisoner, but Sombra didn’t mention where.” Holding up a hand to stop Moira from asking what he knew was an inevitable question, Gabriel nodded shortly. “And yes, I made a deal with her to get more information by running...errands for her. And yes, before you say anything, I’m well aware of the mess I’m getting myself into.”

“It seems like it’s worth it, though,” Moira commented, looking back to the vital readouts. The improvement in them, though small, now made quite a bit of sense. If Gabriel had a renewed sense of purpose, then of course he would be showing improvement in his vitals.

“You don’t think so?”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Moira replied quickly. She motioned to the vitals monitor. “You were showing some slight improvement, and I was curious as to why. When you mentioned that you had gone out, I thought it might have had something to do with that. But I did not know it was  _ this _ personal for you.”

“Well, now you know why.” Gabriel shot a pointed glare at Moira. “And you also know why you can’t tell anybody about this. It’s bad enough that Sombra knows, and she’s certainly using it to her advantage. But she also knows what I’ll do to her if she puts Cassandra or the kids in danger.”

“I doubt that such a reaction would be well received by the rest of Talon, though, Gabriel.”

“I don’t give a damn.”

Though she doubted that such an attitude would last for long, Moira let the matter drop. No need to test Gabriel’s patience any more than she already had.

“So what do you intend to do now?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation back to a subject that Gabriel preferred. “Are you going to try and free Cassandra? To bring her to Talon?”

“I…” Sighing heavily, Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Studying her patient, Moira crossed her arms loosely. She couldn’t help but look back at the vital readouts, thinking that they were a pretty good indicator of what was to be Cassandra’s fate if Gabriel got involved. But, ultimately, the decision was Gabriel’s to make.


End file.
